blogs.straitstimes.com Archives - 11 April 2012, Wednesday

By Kwan Weng Kin Japan Correspondent [email protected] In Tokyo WRITTEN Japanese is full of “kanji”, or Chinese characters, and being able to read them correctly often distinguishes the well-educated from the less so. That said, even the average college student or salaryman may occas...

By Himaya Quasem Assistant to Editor [email protected] The swift viral-like spread of a charity video raises questions about a new colonialism and campaigning on the Internet. Angelina Jolie has gushed about it, Oprah Winfrey has tweeted about it and it has been viewed more than 86 m...

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By Grace Chng Senior Correspondent [email protected] Apple is acting out of norm in recent days. Who would think Apple would issue stock dividends and initiate a share buyback scheme? Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder, was terrified of running out of cash. He remembered the compa...

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By Joel Cooper Copy Editor [email protected] I like nothing better than to relax, unwind and feel the tension ebb from my tired body. What I’m not so keen on is having scorching wax dribbled onto my face, then ripped off with what feels like Scotch Tape. Yet, this was my punishment ...

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By Loh Keng Fatt News Editor, Sunday Times [email protected] In May 2009, I wrote a blog arguing that bookshops like Borders should charge people a $2 admission fee to recoup some money from the hordes who come to browse and read for free and in air-conditioned comfort. That generat...

By Khushwant Singh [email protected] LAWYERS are supposed to be great debaters. After all, theirs is a career that demands they be articulate. Yet, step into any courtroom and you will find that very few in the legal profession are clear or concise. For example, I often see the accused...

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Digital Life At same price as iPad 2, new iPad still unbeatable Grace Chng reviews the new iPad ahead of its launch in Singapore on March 16 Tweet Share Published on March 15th, 2012 By Grace Chng Senior Correspondent [email protected] The new iPad was launched in the usual Apple sty...

By Grace Chng Senior Correspondent [email protected] The new iPad’s screen is a stunner. Games, movies, photos, text and the icons on the new device look sharp. Text appears clearer and the high resolution means I don't have to zoom in too much. Apps, websites and videos also load mu...

All subjects are discussed at these gatherings, we were told. At the coffee shop we visited, the group included a teacher, a primary school director, and several farmers - both men and women. We asked two women about the Democrat Party’s farmer income guarantee scheme. One said she ha...

By Nirmal Ghosh Thailand Correspondent [email protected] Sitting under the broad ficus tree at Thammasat University's campus in historic Bangkok, it is difficult to imagine the stomach-churning violence that engulfed the university in 1976 – the year I began university in Kolkata. It ...

By Avish Joseph Lead Consultant [email protected] On a Tuesday morning in September 2011, we at Bell Pottinger Digital held a collaboration meeting with The Straits Times' Political Desk in our Suntec City office to conceive and design a social media research project that w...

By Grace Chng Editor, Digital Life [email protected] Two gadgets caught my eye at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Firstly, gaming company Razer has a bold and stunning gaming tablet concept. Code-named Fiona, it is a tablet souped up to play PC games such as Warhammer 40,00...

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By Desmond Lim Photojournalist [email protected] 1) How did you come up with the idea for the project? The idea for the project came about through our usual photographers' informal idea-storming sessions. People often ask where ideas come from. But really, it's hard to pinpoint becaus...

By Lin Zhaowei Journalist [email protected] "I may never have completed my education if not for her." That was the similar reply from two people I met on Friday afternoon, when I visited the wake of Mrs Priscilla Krempl, principal of St Andrew's Secondary from 1996 to 2001 and Bedok ...

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By Grace Chua Reporter [email protected] In sunny Singapore, we've all been told: Wear sunscreen. It's good for your skin. But now, it turns out, scientists from Nanyang Technological University have found that nanoparticles of zinc oxide, a substance used in many sunscreens and cosmet...

By Joel Cooper Copy Editor [email protected] Hacking phones, bribing cops - it seems nothing is off limits for the sleazy tabloid pack. But despite the growing backlash, one particularly sordid and unethical journalist has so far managed to escape unscathed. Don't be fooled by his b...

By Bernard Tan [email protected] As a Singaporean, I thought Joseph Schooling's jaw-dropping record-breaking 200m butterfly swim in Palembang was the moment of the 26th South-east Asian (SEA) Games. On Saturday, a young lady with a badminton racket did one better. At the Istor...

By Dr Yong Tze Tein [email protected] 'Congratulations!' I beamed happily at Kim. It was the 1990s, when I was still a trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Driven by the desire to have children after 10 years of marriage, and having saved enough money, Kim had come for an In-...

By Nicholas Yong Reporter [email protected] It is always an uncanny thing to see history repeated before your very eyes. I am sure it is nothing new for fathers, teachers and mentors. It must be a sign of age, given that most people read about historical events in books, as opposed to w...

By Joel Cooper Copy Editor [email protected] When Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London flat in July, fans were devastated but maybe not that surprised. It was no secret that the British soul diva with the towering beehive hairdo and even bigger talent had been fighting a losin...

By Ng Tze Yong ST Online Social Media Editor [email protected] I have only been to Bukit Brown Cemetery twice. Once, when I got lost on a bicycle. And the second time, last Sunday, when my wife and I signed up for a tour with the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) on a whim. Oh, I t...

By Chua Mui Hoong Deputy Review Editor [email protected] It took all of 10 minutes for Stanchart to give me $90. I didn’t even ask for it. It came knocking on my door, in the form of a very courteous and efficient young man. I was passing through Novena MRT, on an errand, when I was...

By Yeong Ah Seng Digital Technology Editor [email protected] Like most Apple fans, I have never met the man. But we all seem to know him through his products and the yearly appearances at MacWorld shows in San Francisco. What is it that triggers such a huge outpouring of grief and acco...

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By Grace Chng Editor, Digital Life [email protected] There is no iPhone5. Instead you get the same look of the iPhone 4. An iPhone 4S instead was announced by Apple early Wednesday morning (Singapore time). However, do not be deceived. In the old body is a set of new tech innards. Wh...

By Grace Chng Editor, Digital Life [email protected] Go to the Amazon website (www.amazon.com ) and a letter from its chief executive Jeff Bezos greets you. It says that it is a company that 'works hard to charge consumers less'. With this message, Mr Bezos launched its attack at the...

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By Francis Chan Assistant News Editor [email protected] I can still remember the feeling of nausea as I looked up the steps on the terraces of the old National Stadium in Kallang. The voice of my coach bellowing from the top of the stadium still rings quite clearly in my mind. “Hurr...

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By Nirmal Ghosh Thailand Correspondent [email protected] Across the world, to varying degrees, girls face discrimination. A new study released in Bangkok on Thursday by the organisation Plan International, which works in over 50 developing countries in support of vulnerable and disadv...

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By Nirmal Ghosh Thailand Correspondent [email protected] Last Saturday morning I found myself balancing on the tailgate of a pickup truck loaded with some 30 live sharks in plastic bags. It was one of two trucks, transporting 60 young sharks in all. Dive instructor Jean Christophe Tho...

By Tessa Wong Political Correspondent [email protected] On Sunday as my Facebook and Twitter feeds lit up with friends tweeting about their curry lunches and dinners, I was slaving away in my kitchen making beef stew. I had heard about Curry Day about two weeks ago, when several friend...